Oh RIM, how we’ll miss you.   Okay, that might be a bit unfair, but in late the company just can’t seem to get a break in terms of an exciting device.  Like most companies they’ve “dialed” it in for too long and have failed to unveil handsets that are vastly different from one and other, and boast the allure of an iPhone or an Android handset, which have long had the luxury of owning.

However, RIM’s latest, the Blackberry Torch 9850/9860 might be the closest thing we’ve seen to stave off their downward spiral.  But from where we sit that ain’t saying much.  It’s a touchscreen affair measuing 3.7-inches with an 800×480 resolution.  Okay, we can live with that.  There is also the presence of a 5 megapixel camera, which isn’t lack luster, but in today’s marketplace there are many phones sporting 8 megapixel shooters so it’s a bit perplexing as to why they just didn’t max the thing out.  While the RAM is suffiecent, 768MB, it only ships with 4GB of storage, though you can expand that to 32GB via a microsSD card.  We’re a bit skeptical, but RIM says that the 1230mAh battery can achieve a 13 day standby time – you can cut that number down by 90% in NYC, where cell tower competition is up the ying yang.  And there is of course WiFi, GPS, an optical touchpad, the ability to record 720p video and Blackberry’s newest OS, OS 7.

If you’re wondering about the release date and the price, well, just keep on wondering.  RIM is mum on that info, though we suspect it will arrive sometime late in the year, which by all accounts is a risky move since Apple will surely release the newest iPhone around the same time.

Did we mention that it’s 11.5mm wide, where as the iPhone 4 is just 9.3mm?  Fatty if you ask us, but maybe you’re a chubby chaser.

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